Giants Sneak By Expos

Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants finally made themselves at home in their new ballpark.

Bonds led off the eighth inning with his ninth home run of the season and the Giants beat the Montreal Expos 2-1 on Saturday for their first win in seven games at Pacific Bell Park.

"We haven't been able to find good luck here," Bonds said. "Kirk (Rueter) kept us in the game the whole time and gave us something to look forward to."

The Giants were the first team to lose six straight games to start its stay in a newly constructed facility. The expansion New York Mets dropped their first seven games at the old Polo Grounds in 1962.

"I was excited because I made contact," Bonds said. "I was stinking out there. (Hitting coach) Gene Clines told me I had to go to left field a little bit. I stood in the outfield after the home run and everybody was getting excited. I told them to calm down, it wasn't over yet."

John Johnstone (2-1) pitched a scoreless eighth inning to pick up the win, and Robb Nen got three outs for his fourth save.

Rueter allowed one run and three hits in seven innings for the Giants. He had two walks and four strikeouts.

"Give the credit to Rueter," said Expos starter Javier Vazuez. "He pitched a great game. Our team has been hitting the ball hard all season and he kind of shut us down."

Vazquez matched Rueter, allowing one run and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings.

"He gives us a good effort every time," said Montreal manager Felipe Alou, who played in the first major league game ever in San Francisco with the Giants in 1958. "He gave us a shot at winning."

Chris Widger, who drove in five runs Friday night, opened the seventh with a triple and scored on Vladimir Guerrero's groundout. It was Guerrero's club-record 27th RBI in April.

Felipe Crespo's infield single scored Ramon Martinez with the tying run in the seventh.

"We're glad to get the first win out of the way," Rueter said. "We're going to get big hits and that's what Barry did."

Second baseman Jeff Kent made a diving catch to rob Guerrero of a hit with a runner on second and two outs in the fourth.

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